Railway-frog.



H. G. BLFBORG.

RAILWAY FROG. APPLIGATIN FILED, DBO. '1, 190s.

Patented Nov.23, 1909.

H. Gr. ELPBORG.

RAILWAY FROG. APPLIGATIQN FILED Imc. 7, 190s.

1L G. BLPBORG. RAILWAY FROG.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 7, 1908.'

Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

f77/mem' 'zeff 4. 7534i? HENRY G. ELFBORG, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

RAILWAY-FROG.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY G. ELFBORG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway-Frogs, of whichthe following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a railway frog constructed ofhard metal, such as manganese-steel, or other suitable alloy, the frogbeing so constructed as to provide a junction with the rails of suchform that the passage of the wheels thereover will not result in rapidwear; and to provide means whereby the frog and rails may be assembledand laid in place with the minimum amount of labor.

The invention herein described is a modification of and in some respectssimilar to that covered by my copending application for patent SerialNo. 464,7 99, filed N ovember 27, 1908. The invention herein describedis more especially designed for use upon roads not subject to theheaviest class of traffic or in railway yards vwhere less eX- pensivestructures may be safely used.

The -character of my invention and its relation to that described in mycopending application above referred to will more clearly appear fromthe following description, taken in connection with the annexed claims.

In the drawings-Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a main track andswitch showing the frog in place. Fig. 2 is a side view of the heel endof the frog, that is, the end at which the point is located. Fig. 3 isan enlarged plan view of the frog and connected rails. Fig. e is a crosssectional view on the line 1 -4c of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary viewshowing the relation of a car wheel to theconverging track rails. Fig. 6is a cross sectional view on the line 6-6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 is a crosssectional view on the line 7 7 of Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a cross section onthe line 8 8 of Fig. 3. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the frogillustrated in the preceding views. Fig. 10 is a plan view of one of therails prepared for connection to the heel end of the frog, the conditionof the rail before bending and after bending but before trimming beingshown in dotted lines. Fig. 11 is a side view of the end of the railshown in Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is an end view of the rail shown in Figs. 10and 11. Fig. 13 is a side view of one of Specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed December 7, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909. sei-iai No. 466,340.

the rails prepared for connection to the toe end of the frog. Fig. 14 isa plan view of the rail shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 15 is an end yview of therails shown in Figs. 13 and 14. Fig.` 16 is a perspective view of amodification. Fig. 17 is a plan view of the heel end of the frog shownin Fig. 16, together with the attached rails. Fig. 18 is a sideelevation of the structureV shown in Fig. 17. Fig. 19 is a section onthe line 19-19 of Fig. 17. Fig. 2O is a section on the line 20-20 ofFig. 17 Fig. 21 is a section on the line 21-21 of Fig. 17 Fig. 22 is asection on the line 22-22 of Fig. 16. Fig 23 is a section on the line23f23 of Fig. 17.

As is well-known, the wear upon railway frogs is much more rapid as aresult of the violent blows to which they are subjected, than upon otherparts of a railway track. In -order to overcome this difficulty, it hasbeen previously proposed to constructthe frog point and some 0f theadjacent parts of manganese-steel, or other hard alloy, but the use ofsuch devices hasdeveloped other difficulties at the .point of junctionbetween the hard alloy and steel rails, and the assemblage of the partsin some instances leads to more or less dificulty on account of theircomplicated form.

As clearly shown in Figs. 3, 9 and 16, I construct the hard metal frogin a single integral piece, the wing rails and point rails terminatingat the end thereof, and substitute for the wing rails, integral wingflanges 1 cast upon and forming part of the frog.

Referring to the sectional views and especially to Fig. 7, it will beapparent that the frog comprises a body portion made up of base flanges2, vertical webs 3, a floor plate 1, strengthening webs 5 extendingupwardly from the base flanges to the wing flanges 1, and a point 7,together with strengthening webs 8 between the vertical webs 3 and floorplatea. l

rI`he invention herein claimed relates more particularly to the heel endof the frog, that is, the end at which the point is located, and a briefdescription of thetoe end will therefore suffice for the purpose of thisapplication, that part of the structure being more specificallydescribed and claimed in my copending application above referred to. Atthe toe end, the frog is provided with integral extensions 9 projectingoutwardly substantially in line with the wing flanges. The ends of thewing rails 10, 10 are rec'eived between the extensions 9, 9. Theextensions 9, 9 are recessed, forming shoulders 11 adapted to liedirectly beneath the heads of the wing rails and support the same, and

the outer side of the rail head is planed away at 12 sutiiciently toform a right angle joint with the extension 9, thus avoiding theditculty of fitting said extension over the rounded top corner of therail head. The extensions 9 are tapered on their inner faces from thebody of the frog outwardly for the purpose of forming a diagonaljunction with the attached rails, which are received between saidextensions. The rails 10 are prepared for attachment to the frog byfirst bending` them at about the point indicated by the arrow S in Fig.14. The inner side of the rail head is then planed away at 111 to makethe gage line of the bent part of the rail continuous with that of theremainder thereof. The extent of the bend in the rail is such that theplaning away atl 14 to straighten the gage line cuts the headsubstantially down to the web at the end of the rail, as shown in Fig.14. As previously explained, the outer side of the rail head is planedofi1 at 12, for the purpose of making a squared joint with'the extension9. Owing to the bending of the rail, the edge 12 lies on a diagonal linecorresponding to the inside taper on the extension 9 of the frog, thusforming an oblique junction therewith. The effect of the diagonal jointalong the line 12 is to cause the tread of a passing wheel to passgradually from the steel rail to the hardened frog, thus avoiding theshock incident to riding over a square transverse joint. Furthermore,the shoulder 11, shown in Fig. 6, lying beneath the rail head firmlysupports the rail and keeps the upper surface of the extension '9 in thesame plane with the head of the rail. Registering bolt holes areprovided in the extensions 9 and the ends of the rails 10, and also inthe wedge`I 16, as shown in Figs. 3 and 6. After the ends of the rails10 are inserted between the extensions 9, the wedge 1G is driven homeand the parts secured together by bolts 17, as shown in the drawing. Insome instances, it will be found desirable to construct the wedge 16 intwo parts, divided on a transverse line, in order to avoid thefrictional resistance encountered in driving the entire wedge to itsseat at once.

The structure above described, that is, the toe end of the frog, issubstantially the same as that described in my copending applicationabove referred to.

I will now proceed to describe the heel end of the frog, in which theinvention herein claimedmore particularly resides. Owing to the highcost of manganese-steel and other hard alloys, it is desirable to securethe necessary results with as little of this material as possible. Upontracks subjected to heavy traic and the passage of locomotives, it isnecessary that the heel end of the frog be continued out from the pointfar enough to prevent the flange of a passing wheel from overlying theends of both of the convergingl point rails. The wide treads uponlocomotive driving wheels, in some instances such treads being as muchas four inches in width, necessitates a very long extension of the frogat the heel end. rihe necessity for preventing passing wheels fromoverlying both of the converging rails arises from the fact that thewheels become worn at the throat forming a groove, as indicated at 2O inFig. 5. In that figure, the converging rails 21, 22 are shown inrelation to a passing wheel overlying them in the manner above pointedout as objectionable in the case of heavy traflic upon main lines. Itwill be apparent from an inspection of Fig. 5 that the unworn part ofthe wheel 23 will tend to cut a groove in the rail 2:2, and that therepeated passage of wheels will result in serious damage to theconverging rails. Hence, the necessity of continuing the hard alloy frogto a point where the rails are so far separated as to prevent the actionabove described. rlfhis necessity, however, is not imperative in thecase of frogs used upon electric railways where the rolling stock islighter and where it is not necessary to provide against the injuriouseffect of the broad wheels of locomotives. Also, in railway yards thesame necessity does not exist for guarding against the action abovedescribed. For the uses last described and analogous purposes, I havedevised the structure embodied in the heel end of the frog representedin the drawings.

instead of providing a tongue projecting from the heel end of the frogbetween the converging rails and discontinuing the converging rails at apoint where they are sutliciently spread to avoid the effects abovedescribed, 1, in the present instance, form the heel end of the frogwith two extensions 30 springing from the base of the frog point and ontheir outer sides forming continuous gage lines therewith. Theconverging rails are received between the projections 30 and the openingbetween said projections tapers toward the frog to a point where itswidth may, if desired, be about equal to the thickness of the webs ofthe converging rails. rlhe converging point rails are prepared forattachment to the heel end of the frog, as illustrated in Figs. 10, 11and 12, and as shown in section in Figs. 4: and 8. The rails are bentinwardly at about the point indicated by the arrow designated T, thecondition of the rail before bending being` shown by the dotted linesleading from the letter U, and the condition after bending and beforetrimming being indicated by the arrows leading from the letter V. Thehead Massa of the rail is then trimmed along the diagonal line 32 andcurved line 33 to conform to the projection 30. At the points 35, theprojections 30 are reduced in height by cutting away the unoer corners,thus forming a reduced extension 34: adapted to lie between the baseflange and head of the rail. As shown in Fig. et, the inner face of eachof the projections 30 is fitted to lie snugly against and beneath somuch of the head of the rail as is not cut awav and'to support the samefrom the base flange of the rail. After bending', the rails are alsotrimmed along their inner sides upon the line 36, for the purpose ofreducing their Width sufficiently to permit them to form a taperingpoint which will fit the space between the extensions 30. rlhe frog andrails are held in alinement with a smooth upper surface by engagement ofthe inner faces of the extensions 30 which conform with the outer facesof the rails as shown in F ig. 4f and by the reduced extensions 3a whichll the space between the base flanges and heads of the rails. A riser 37of a form in common use is inserted between the converging rails, andbolts passing through the rails, riser and projections 30 hold theassembled structure together.

The alinement of the rails and frog at the heel end is further securedby means of supports 39 which project from the body of the frog beneaththe rails. This support preferably takes the form, as shown in Fig. 8,of a web projecting outwardly and downwardly and then inwardly from eachof the projections 30, and the rails rest thereon, as clearly shown in Fig. 8.

By means of the structure above described, I am enabled to materiallyshorten the heel end of the frog, thus effecting a great economy in theamount of hard alloy used, while at the same time producing a frog ofgreat strength and durability.

In some instances it may be found desirable instead of spiking the frogdirectly to the ties, to construct the same of less depth and superposeit upon a steel plate riveted to its base; such a structure is shown inFigs. 1G to 23 of the drawings. -In these views, the frog is ofsubstantially the same formation as that above described, excepting thatthe hard metal casting is of less depth and the entire structure-broughtto the required height by the steel plate 40 which is secured to thecasting by means of rivets, as illustrated. The support 39 which, in theform above described, is cast integral with the body of the frog is, inthe modification, formed by depressing the end 41 of the plate 40 whereit extends beneath the projections 30, the amount of depression beingsufiicient to bring the part 41 beneath the attached track rails. Theopposite end 42 of the plate t() is also depressed, thus forming asimilar pocket or support for the attached ends of the wing rails.

v I would have it understood that I do not desire to limit myself to theprecise construction and arrangement shown in the drawings and hereindescribed, as various modifications or alterations may be made withoutdeparting from my original invention.

I claim:

1. A railway frog comprising in one integral structure, a body portion,a point, wing flanges, diverging extensions from the base of said point,and rails received between and secured to said extensions.

2. A railway frog comprising in one integral structure, a body portion,a point, wing flanges, and diverging extensions from the base of saidpoint, said extensions being of reduced height adjacent their endsforming parts adapted to t between the head and base of attached rails.

3. A railway frog comprising in a single integral structure, a bodyportion, wing ianges, a point, diverging extensions from the base ofsaid point, and a support extending outwardly from said body portionbeneath said extensions.

4t. A railway frog comprising in one integral structure, a body portion,a point, wing flanges, extensions of said flanges at one end, anddiverging extensions from the base of said point.

5. A railway frog comprising in one integral structure, a body portion,a point, wing flanges, extensions of said anges at one end, anddiverging extensions from the base of said point, said last namedextensions being of reduced height adjacent their ends forming partsadapted to fit between the head and base of attached rails.

6. A railway frog comprising in one integral structure, a body portion,a point, wing` iianges, and diverging extensions from the base of saidpoint, said extensions being beveled on their inner sides outwardly fromthe main body of said frog.

7. In combination, a railway frog comprising in a single integralstructure, a body portion, a point, wing ianges, diverging extensionsfrom the base of said point, the inner faces of said extensions beingtapered outwardly, and track rails the ends of which are receivedbetween and lie against said extensions, the end portions of said railsbeing bent toward each other and tapered on the outer sides of the railheads to conform to the inner faces of said extensions.

8. In combination, a railway frog comprising in a single integralstructure, a body portion, a point, wing flanges, diverging extensionsfrom the base of said point, the inner faces of said extensions beingtapered outwardly, and track rails the ends of which arel receivedbetween and lie against said extensions, the end portions of said railsbeing bent toward each other and tapered on the outer sides of the railheads to conform to the inner faces of said extensions, and on the innersides where said rails abut against each other.

9. In combination, a railway frog cornprising in a single integralstructure, a body portion, a point, wing flanges, diverging extensionsfrom the base of said point, the inner faces of said extensions beingtapered outwardly, and track rails the ends of which are receivedbetween and lie against said extensions, the end lportions of said railsbeing bent toward each other and tapered on the outer sides of the railheads to conform to the inner faces of said extensions, and on the innersides where said rails abut HENRY G. ELFBORG.

Witnesses J. R. CALLAN, FRANK MCDONALD.

